


Lenox Avenue

by ixwire



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Bed Sex, F/F, POV Harold Finch, POV John Reese, POV Root (Person of Interest), POV Sameen Shaw, Roof Sex, Trains, shoot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-01
Updated: 2016-05-01
Packaged: 2018-06-05 18:42:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6716650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ixwire/pseuds/ixwire
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Without the Machine and with Samaritan off the radar, Root keeps trying to find Shaw. Meanwhile, Finch and Reese attempt to return the surveillance system to the streets of New York.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lenox Avenue](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/194191) by Me. 



> English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes you may find.

_Time kept passing by. Eight, nine,... or maybe just six. None of them knew how long they were walking in the darkness._

 Reese was cleaning his weapons inside the carriage when Bear started barking uncontrollably. The three of them looked at the dog trying to understand why he was acting like that.

  * _Bear!_ \- Finch said curtly, creating a small echo in the station. The dog ran into a hole beneath the platform. Reese became alerted when he saw what the dog was carrying. Finch left the desk to pick it up.



 

  * _Root ..._ \- Reese whispered while approaching her. - _You might wanna see this_. - Root tried to gather strength to hold what he gave her. Without saying a word, she squeezed the key in her hand and left the room straightaway.



 

While she was walking along Lenox Avenue, she began to remember what she felt every time the Machine spoke to her. Illusion, hope, joy... the Machine managed to make her feel complete. Samaritan took care of snatching her joy for a second time before it finally shut down. _“32, 31, 30...”_ she whispered while checking the doors. Meanwhile, her mind kept recalling the previous months, when all she did was hacking into New York City’s surveillance camera network hoping to get a picture or at least just a track. Day after day, the agony grew, putting down her hope of finding her and she started listening to Finch, who already gave everything up for lost.

She stopped breathing when she saw the next number: _“29”._ Then, paralyzed, she tried to approach the lock with her trembling hand, pushing the doorknob to enter inside. The darkness embraced the room and its scent was strong enough to intoxicate her. “ _Sameen”_ , Root whispered hoping to get an answer. She waited. Silence.

Carried away by her footsteps, she fell near the headboard of the bed. Tears started streaming down her cheeks and the cold bristled her body, which in that moment needed to be covered, needed to be with _her_. The only thing she could feel was the pillow, so she embraced it with all her might, hoping that at some point _she_ will come to remove it and take its place. The night started passing by. Root, sleepily, looked up at the ceiling. Minutes later, she managed to find the strength to sit beside the night stand.

  * _October, 1988._ \- She read in the photograph. The Machine told her about that story a few months ago. The man was wearing a Philadelphia Eagles T-shirt and her daughter was wearing a black shirt instead, probably stained by the hot dog she held in her right hand.



Her fingers brushed the surface of the photograph hoping that the little girl would come out of the paper and be there by her side, explaining over and over again that story. She picked up another photograph: _“January, 2013”._ Root wasn’t surprised by the way Cole was looking at his partner. She understood that look because she felt the same every time the two of them were together.

A rush of wind opened the window next to the bed. Root left the pictures on the night stand, picked up the first tank top she found in the closet and sat on the windowsill. Her gaze was lost in the crowd walking down the street and the air made its way through the inside, helping her to dry her cheeks. “ _Where are you?”_ she shouted without hoping to get an answer, but this time a voice whispered in the darkness:

  * _Root?_




	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes you may find.

_The Schrödinger's cat was meowing in the dark, flooding the room with a feeling of despair. In turn, Elpis seemed to walk around the edge of the bed trying to get closer to the window._

 

Root, anxiously, tried to find the voice in the darkness of the room. The windowsill started to feel more like a little cloud. Everything started to spin and Root’s body hung on the edge of the window. The shadow was standing amid the darkness, staring back at her. Root managed to reach the taser from her jacket and pointed it out into the dark.

The few vehicles passing through Lenox Avenue illuminated the room. Root froze when she found herself reflected in those brown eyes she was itching to stare at again.

  * _S-Sameen?_ \- She whispered tearfully.



Shaw was standing in front of Root. Her eyes were tired and lost and her body seemed to float around the room hoping to be sustained. They stared at each other with just a little distance, trying to break the barrier that seemed to separate them.

  * _Harold said... She... she’s not... and you..._



 

  * _Root -_ Shaw interrupted as she approached her hands to Root’s face.



 

  * _You are here._ \- Root said, smiling sadly.



 

  * _I’m here._



A kind of bittersweet happiness wrapped them. Root was longing for Shaw’s hug. The only thing she wanted at the moment was to keep her by her side, not letting her go again. She wanted to say how much she has missed her, how happy she was having her back; Shaw, however, didn’t want to speak, she just held Root and hugged her. _“Why now?”_ Root tried to ask with a wrecked voice, but the sound did not quite come out of her lips. _“What has changed?”_ she tried to ask again. There were too many unknowns, so much to explain, but she ended up realizing that it wasn’t the right time to make questions.

They walked to the edge of the bed and then just sit next to each other. Root rested her head on Shaw’s shoulder, causing a whimper of pain in her.

  * _Are you okay?_ \- Root asked concernedly, but she already knew the answer. She went to the medicine cabinet and began looking between the brake pads and bandages.



 

  * _Hey._ \- Shaw muttered, stroking Root’s cheeks when she was in front of her again. _– I’m fine._



The silence of the room was only interrupted by Shaw’s complaints, who left the edge of the bed soaked with blood. Root needed answers, needed to know what had happened to her, but she did not want to risk losing her again, not now when she finally had her back.

  * _God I wish you could be as good with stitches as you are with weapons._ \- Shaw complained when she looked the stitched wound on her arm.



 

  * _I’ll take that as a thank you._ \- Root said, pointing the needle toward Shaw’s neck with a broken smile on her lips. - _You had me worried._



 

  * _Root, not now..._



  * _Not now? Then, when? You tell me._



  * _I am not gonna do this._



 

  * _Here’s your problem, Shaw. You never want to talk about anything; you don’t wanna talk about you, not about your past, not about... us._ \- Root replied.



 

  * _My past?_ \- Shaw asked, avoiding answering that “about us”. - _All you want to know I’m sure that your machine, God, saint, demon, whatever you call it, has already told you._



 

  * _And do you really think I want to hear it from her?_ \- Root said, angrily. - _Besides, right now the past I want to know about is well nearby. So for once in your life, keep in mind that other people care about you and tell me, why didn’t you come back?_



 

  * _Damn, Root. I needed to protect you. I mean… all of you._



 

  * _Do not give me that story Sameen. Don’t come out with the excuse of protection. We ended up with Samaritan; you were free and decided not to come back. So there’s no protection, no reason, there’s nothing._



 

  * _Do you really think I would be able to get back with you after what I did? I could not let myself return. Bear wouldn’t look at me the same again._ \- Shaw said, trying to add some humor to the discussion so she could calm her down.



 

  *   _You left me._ -  Root whispered.



 

 As much as Shaw wanted to keep it cool, she knew Root was right, Harold and John had each other, they had been a team long ago; but Root was completely alone without the Machine.

  * _I came back. -_ Shaw said.



 

  * _What are you trying to say?_



 

  * _October 29, 2013. “When you see this statue again, think impact”, well, I saw it._ \- Shaw began to explain. _\- I decided to come back for a third time ... and there you were, sitting on the bench, stroking Bear._



 

  * _Why didn’t you approach?_



  * _And say what? It wasn’t that simple, Root._



Although it was hard for her to accept it, she knew Shaw was right. Harold and John wouldn’t have accepted her return to the team so easily considering she had been working for Samaritan a few months ago.

The silence pervaded the room again, threatening to end their time together. Shaw began to undress, opened the closet and rummaged in it. Root approached to the windowsill to grab and return to Shaw the shirt she had taken hours before. For an instant, their skin came into contact and a small spark kept them closer. They were unable to take a step back, the same barrier that separated them moments before was now trying to push their bodies. They glanced at each other.

 _“Sameen”_ \- that name made Shaw dropped a tear. The pressure of the barrier stopped, allowing Root to caress Shaw’s naked body, and she didn’t hesitate to bring her lips closer and kiss her. That kiss shared the same bittersweet taste as the night. The feeling of loneliness, despair and fear that had lurked them in recent months began to move through the room, trying to leave them forever. Their tired faces began to pick up color with every kiss and every touch. Any other cyber apocalypse to take place that night wouldn’t separate them again.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes you may find.

_The first rays of morning sun entered the room. That warm light was accompanied by a hopeful tone. Perhaps the darkness was coming to an end; perhaps the sun marked a new beginning._

Unlike everybody, Shaw put her left foot on the floor and left the bed. A slight push took her by surprise and took her back between the sheets.

  * _Good morning, Sameen._ \- Root whispered while kissing Shaw.



 

The beginning of the day wasn’t an impediment to stay together in bed. Neither of them wanted to be away from each other, they wanted to remember the feeling of being in contact under the covers. However, that warm moment didn’t last for long.

  * _Harold?_ \- Root answered the phone.



 

  * _Root, I think you would want to rush back to the station. I’m afraid our peace has come to an end._



 

  * _Did you make it, Harold?_



  * _I think you will want to see it with your own eyes._



 

  * _Harold._ \- Root said tensely. The phone made no sound in the next ten seconds and both of them knew what that meant. Finch looked at the search panel located next to the computer desk and took a photograph. Grace was in it.



 

  * _Sometimes it’s easier to forget rather than agonize with the idea that you can only see her in the distance, not listening her voice again... or touching her just one last time._



  * _You shouldn’t have to give it up for lost, Harry._



  * _Root, your ability to keep hope even in the worst situations is without a doubt refreshing, but not shared. We will be waiting here._ \- Harold said before hanging up the phone.



 

 _“If I come back is just because I wanna see the dog”_ Shaw blurted out after listening to the conversation. On the way to the station, Root was unable to take her eyes out of Shaw; she stared at her over and over again, remembering every time they had spent together working for the Machine. Upon their arrival, Shaw stopped sharply, crashing against Root’s body. She hugged her from behind trying to calm her down.

  * _I’m right here, sweetie._ \- Root whispered.



Bear started barking. The door opened.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes you may find.

_That cozy space that the four of them remembered was now flooded with guilt, mistrust, fear and against all odds, hope._

 

Shaw felt a little shiver when she felt Root’s hand. As they were walking into the room, Shaw was just one step away from running away.

Harold was tapping nervously on the computer, muttering codes and phrases that only he could understand. Reese was inside the train car instead, taking in and out small pieces of the black briefcase. Once inside, Root stared at Finch’s computer and suddenly her eyes filled with joy.

  * _I knew you could make it, Harold._ \- Root said, placing her hands over Finch’s shoulders.



  * _I couldn’t have done any of this without your help. The Machine is waiting. -_ Harold said gratefully. Root ran into the train to talk to the Machine.



 

At the same time, Shaw was standing in the middle of the room, with the same lost eyes she had before and with every part of her body urging her to leave. Bear approached her, biting her jacket and dragging her into the station. _“I’m back, buddy”_ she whispered while stroking the dog’s head. Harold realized Shaw’s presence, but none of them was able to break that eerie silence. Reese, however, rested her hand on Shaw’s arm once he left the car.

  * _You look terrible, Shaw. -_ Reese said.



  * _I guess it’s the result of dying for a third time._



  * _However, it’s good to have you back._



  * _Guys, I'm afraid she needs us again. -_ Root interjected.



  * _Do we have a number?_ \- Reese asked with some joy to recover the old habits.



  * _A number? The Machine is back in a big way, John. There are five, and I’m afraid I can just take care of one of them._



  * _I can look after two._ \- Shaw said, hoping to take action and leave the room as soon as possible.



  * _Maybe she needs us all, but I need you._



  * _Did she tell you that we should go together?_



  * _Well, you could say that. -_ Root said, making Shaw roll her eyes. _\- Harold, the two of you need to look after the four other numbers._



Root walked into the train with John, leaving Shaw and Finch alone again.

  * _Okay, Harold. I get it. I guess I’ll have to earn your trust again. -_ Shaw blurted out. Harold failed to say anything, his confidence in her was lost in the exact moment she decided to give them to Samaritan and then not return to the team. He wanted to believe she was still the Shaw they knew, but hope was not one of his virtues.



Shaw entered the train too and then she began to talk to John, who couldn’t stop telling her everything they had done to get her back. Root disregarded the talking and left the place. Once again, her steps were guided by the Machine. She left the station and headed to the roof of the building next door. Shaw ran after her, shouting her name over and over again to make her stop. When she reached her, she didn’t hesitate to push her towards the wall.

  * _Root!_ \- She said angrily.



 

  * _Kevin McAllen, 35 years old_ \- Root said pointing one of the windows in front of them. - _Guess who worked for who a few months ago._



 

  * _I don’t know, McDonald’s?_



 

  * _I missed your humor, Shaw. He was working undercover for Decima at Hamptons headquarter._



  * _You put an end to Samaritan. What may the Machine want now from this dude?_



  * _Yes, Sameen, we ended up with Samaritan, but not with those who created it._



 

At that moment, Shaw knew she was still running away from Samaritan. It was only a matter of time before Decima operatives turn on another AI system, causing the whole team hide again.

  * _We should end this, Root. Right here, right now._



  * _I don’t know if you can recall, but she doesn't want casualties in this fight, we just need information._



  * _Screw information, Root. -_ Shaw said, pointing her rifle to the man.



 

The next few seconds paralyzed Root. The warm ray of hope she felt that morning was now walking through her back, flooding her with terror. Shaw showed half a smile on her face, as if at that moment she had achieved something she craved for a long time. When both of them looked at each other, they knew they had lost one another again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> English isn't my first language, so please excuse any mistakes you may find.

_Flee or stay, all or nothing._

Shaw wanted to run away, that idea sounded refreshing to her but she wasn’t capable of doing it. Inside her everything had changed, but there was just one thing she knew for sure about herself, something that remained the same. And that thing, that someone, made her stay.

  * _Do not give me that look._ \- Shaw said while rolling her eyes.



 

  * _Next time you wanna shoot someone, a little warning would be great._ \- Root shouted angrily.



 

  * _Do you really think I was going to leave them activate that thing? Allow it to kidnap me again and find out later what you have done to find me? I’m not going to risk our lives again, Root._



 

  * _It’s not your decision to make._ \- Root snapped while Shaw was walking away from her. - _I lost you once, Shaw. I will not let it happen again._



 

  * _The only way we can avoid it is by killing them._



 

  * _No, this is how you make decisions and then everything falls apart. It would be such a good idea if you check with me the actions you make before it can affect everybody._



 

  * _Everybody or just you, Root? Finch and Reese seem to be quite well without me, you’re the one that insisted on bringing me back. Is it right you climb on top of a roof risking the whole “team Machine” mission of saving the world but it is wrong that I want to avoid a new war? You have a robot in your ear but that doesn’t make your decisions better than mine._



 

Root knew that everything she had done to get Shaw back was pure insanity, but she would repeat that madness if that meant having her by her side. However, although her past as a killer would’ve pull the trigger as Shaw did, her intention to make it right this time stopped her.

  * _Sameen ..._ \- Root whispered, hoping to get her back.



 

  * _No, do not "Sameen" me. The Machine wanted you here with me, right? Maybe she knew this was the right thing to do._



 

  * _No, Shaw. She didn’t want you here, I wanted you here._



 

  * _If you have decided it then you don’t get to be surprised by something you knew that could happen. Maybe Harold is the only one who is right._



 

  * _Harold may be right in so many things but not in this._ \- Root said, approaching her with the intention of not allowing her run away again.



 

  * _There’s nothing else to do, Root._ \- Shaw concluded, leaving everything they built that night behind.



 

The same feeling of agony Root felt months ago invaded her body, paralyzing it again. Perhaps their fate was to be apart from each other, to feel the melancholy of what they could have built, or maybe they still hadn’t fought enough to recover what they had. Root wanted to stop her, approach her and tell her how she would repeat everything. Being Caroline Turing, trying to torture her, reliving the ten hours together, save each other while fighting Samaritan,... Her lips transmitted it all in a simple _“Sameen”_ that managed to stop Shaw.

  * _Really Root? One time is not enough for you?_



  * _I’m not gonna lose you again. We don’t need to tell Harold what has happened._



  * _If you take another step you’ll fall into the void._ \- Shaw said, while getting closer to her. Somehow, the situation was exciting her.



 

  * _Not if you arrive here on time, Sameen._ \- Root said, taking another step.



 

  * _I’m going to leave, Root. Don’t lay the inevitable._ \- She went a step further.



 

  * _Is not me who lengthens the inevitable. Tell me, are you seriously gonna leave me again?_



 

  * _Leave you? We are nothing, Root, so there’s no leaving. A fun night doesn’t make us a marriage._



 

  * _Fun night? Is that how you call what we have?_ \- Root said, showing a small smile on her face when she saw how Shaw was getting closer to her.



 

  * _Yes, Root, it was fun. End of story._



 

  * _My concept of funny is tying you up to the headboard of the bed and watch how you fight against it; last night was good but fun is not the best word to define it._



 

  * _Okay, Root, you wanna play. How would you define it then_? - Shaw asked, being only three steps away from Root.



 

  * _I don’t know. You tell me, Sameen._ \- Root concluded, falling into the void. Shaw ran to her to keep her safe, she pushed her inside the rooftop and both of them fell to the ground. Root was on top of Shaw, their eyes met and none of them could resist kissing.



 

  * You’re insatiable. - Shaw whispered, carrying on with that kiss.



 

Root’s left hand landed on Shaw’s neck; meanwhile, the fingers of her right hand started playing with her trousers. Shaw used all her strength to raise Root and shoved her to the edge of the roof. _“You like to play, don’t you?”_ she whispered, making Root became nervous. Both of them were in complete silence, staring at the eyes of the other and not moving a single nerve. Abruptly, Shaw hit Root arms against the cold marble roof; she turned her head and saw the void under their bodies. Shaw stared at it too and whispered:

_“I guess there are things worth dying for”._


End file.
